Dust bag for vacuum cleaners



Jan. v19, 1943.

H. B. FUGE DUST BAGS FOR VACUUM CLEANERS Filed 061:. 24, 1940 2Sheets-Sheet l Minus:

Jan. 19, 1943. H. B. FUGE 7 2,308,682

DUST BAGS FOR VACUUM CLEANERS Filed Oct. 24, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 {ZPatented Jan. 19, 1943 2,308,682 I DUST BAG FOR VACUiIM CLEANERS HarryB. Fuge, Elizabeth, N. J., assignor to The Singer Manufacturing Company,Elizabeth, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application October 24,1940, Serial No. 362,484

1 Claim. (01. 150-3) simplified means for closing and sealing thedischarge end of the bag to make it dust-tight.

These and other objects have been attained by so constructing the bagthat the main body portion thereof, including the discharge end, is ofuniform diameter, thus precluding any restriction of the dirt whenemptying the bag. The sealing of the bag has been accomplished byfolding the side walls of the bag inwardly between overlying front andrear walls and thereafter clamping all of those walls together indust-tight contact. Preferably, the bag walls are clamped together bymeans of a channel-like clamping element, substantially C-shaped incross-section, adapted to be slid lengthwise over the collapseddischarge end of the bag. Other forms of clamping devices,'however, maybe employed.

Heretofore, various forms of complicated constructions includingmetallic and other frames have been provided for collapsing the sidewalls of the bag in between the front and rear walls thereof so that theclamping means may be placed thereover.

I have attained this same result in a simplified way, without the use ofany frame, by so constructing the bag that it will naturally assume thisfolded condition without the aid of any additional elements. This hasbeen accomplished by forming, the bag of two fabric sections sewedtogether at their adjacent edges by infolded seams, to form primaryfolds, and permanently creasing the bag at the juncture of the sidewalls and the front and rear walls to provide secondary or edge folds.Preferably the permanent creases are formed by creasing the bag wall andthen sewing a seam therethrough adjacent the crease.

Other objects and advantages will be in part indicated in the followingdescription and in part rendered apparent therefrom in connection withthe annexed drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the two fabric blanks from which my improvedbag is made.

Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate respectively a single and a double hem-foldwhich are applied successively across the larger ends of the two blanksas the first and second operations in the assembling of the blanks.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a portion of one of the stantially dust-prooffabric.

hemmed bagblanks having formed therein two permanent creases, later tobe referred to.

Fig. 5 is an end view of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 isa plan view of the two hemmedbag blanks united back-to-back by marginal stitch ing, thus forming aninverted dust bag.

Fig. '7 is an end view of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the discharge end of my completeddust-bag illustrating how the bag naturally collapses alongpredetermined lines.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged side view of the discharge end of the bag showingthe bag-closing clamp thereon.

Fig. 10 is a section on the line Ill-l0 of Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is an end view, on a reduced scale, of the discharge end of thebag, with the bag fully opened.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the-invention is disclosedas embodied in a dust bag made from two similar blanks a and b of sub-Each blank consists of a large body portion I and a reduced back neckportion 2, the latter of which becomes the intake end of the bag whichis attached to a vacuum cleaner. To each neck portion 2 there is secureda piece 3 of relatively thin fabric which, when the bag is completelyassembled, becomes an inwardly extending and collapsible valve memberwhich prevents dirt in the bag from re-entering the vacuum cleaner. Thisneck portion and valve member form no part of the present invention andfurther illustration and description thereof is, therefore, deemedunnecessary.

In constructing the improved bag from the hem to produce a doublehem-fold 6 (Fig. 3) and that hem-fold is secured by a second line ofstitches 1. This produces, along the ends I and l of the two blanks aand b, thickened portions or welts, the purpose of which later will beexplained.

The next step consists in forming permanent creases in the blanks a andb along lines represented by the dot-dash lines 0 in Figs. 1 and 4. Thismay be effected in any one of several ways, such, for example, as byfolding the blanks along the lines 0, inserting between the pliesthereof, along the lines 0, narrow strips of tailors mending tissue (1.e. sheet material which becomes adhesive under the application of heat)and pressing the folded blank with a hot iron. Preferably, however, thepermanent creases will be formed by folding the blanks along the linesand then sewing, through the superimposed plies of material, lines ofstitches 8. These lines of stitches draw the adjacent portions of thebody material of the bag together and form therein permanent creases 9upon which the material will naturally tend to fold. I

The blanks a and I) having been hemmed and permanently creased as abovedescribed, the next operation consists in sewing the two blankstogether, back-to-back as shown in Fig. 7. This is preferably effectedby a two-needle sewing machine which simultaneously produces the twoparallel lines of stitches "land ll spaced inwardly fromthe side I2 ofthe blanks. Except for the attachment to the neck or intake end 2 of thebag of a suitable connector adapted to secure the bag to a vacuumcleaner, this completes the manufacture of the bag which, however, atthis stage is inverted or inside out. The bag is then turned right sideout and is ready for use.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 8, 9 and 11, it will be seen thatthebag naturally folds along the permanent creases 9 to cause the sidewalls C and D comprising, respectively, those portions 41' and b' and aand b of the bag sections a and b, which are outwardly beyond thepermanent creases 9, to be extended inwardly between the front and rearwalls designated generally as A and B, respectively, in Figs. 8 and 11.This causes the edge-portions l2 to be brought together into abuttingcontact as shown in Fig. 9.

With the bag collapsed, the double hemmed ends of the front, rear andside sections are brought together in the form of a multiple welt W asshown in Fig. 10. To compress the bag walls against each other andmaintain a dusttight contact therebetween, a channel-like slidable clampE substantially C-shaped in crosssection is slid endwise over thecollapsed end of the bag. The main body portion of the clamp receivesthe multiple welt W and the walls of the restricted mouth 10 thereofbears upon the front and rear walls of the bag to compress those wallsinto dust-tight contact with the inwardly folded side walls. Inasmuch asthe multiple welt W is materially wider than the mouth of the clamp E itwill be apparent that the bag will be securely held in the clamp andthat the two may be separated only by relative movement between the twolengthwise of the clamp.

From the foregoing it will be perceived that this invention has providedan all-fabric vacuum cleaner bag of which the discharge end may beopened to the full diameter of the bag to facilitate removal of thecontents therefrom; which, without the aid of any framework or othermeans, will automatically fold on predetermined lines and willcompletely collapse; and which includes a simple form of clamp devicefor holding the collapsed walls of the bag in dust-tight contact witheach other.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim hereinis:

A dust bag for a vacuum cleaner comprising two similar blanks ofsubstantially dust-proof material laid one upon the other and stitchedtogether at their side edges, each of said blanks consisting of a mainbody portion of uniform width and having a reduced neck portion, aplurality of stitched creases formed in the body portion of said baglengthwise thereof and serving to divide the bag into front, rear andside sections, said side sections being folded inwardly in oppositedirections along said stitched creases to contact each other betweensaid front and rear sections to close the discharge end of the bag, andclamp means engaging said front and. rear sections and holding them indust-tight contact with the infolded and contacting side sectionsthereof.

HARRY B. FUGE.

